Juan Mata has as much to fear as any Manchester United player after, according to Sky TV reports, Jose Mourinho agreed personal terms to succeed Louis van Gaal in the Old Trafford hot seat on Tuesday.
The Spain midfielder was jettisoned by Mourinho at Chelsea in January 2014 despite being a darling of the crowd, having won the Player of the Year award in his two previous seasons at the Stamford Bridge club.
Mata is an astute attacking player who is always liable to chip in with an important goal, as he showed when scoring United’s equaliser in their 2-1 FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday.
He does not fit the bill, however, for a prototype Mourinho midfielder. He lacks defensive attributes because he has no pace, is weak in the air, cannot tackle and is heavily reliant on his left foot.
“It is one thing to play with Ramires and Oscar closing down opponents on each side and Mata as a number 10 behind a striker with his clever assists, clever passes and fantastic actions because he has great talent,” said Mourinho in September 2013.
“But it is another thing to adapt to the way we want to play.”
No matter how skilful they might be, Mourinho demands all his midfield players track back when the team lose possession to form a solid defensive shield.
Within months of selling Mata to United, the Portuguese replaced him at Chelsea with Cesc Fabregas.
The Londoners won the Premier League at a canter in Fabregas’ first season at Stamford Bridge but in the latter part of the campaign Mourinho was reluctant to employ the Spaniard in a holding role alongside Nemanja Matic, thrusting him further forward where his defensive shortcomings were less noticeable.
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